The Mets, coming out of the trade deadline, have a very strange roster. They’re carrying five outfielders—six if you count Kelly Johnson—yet all but Yoenis Cespedes are left-handed, and there’s no clear center fielder with Cespedes hurt. The infield looks more stable, but probably shouldn’t be, with James Loney and Matt Reynolds locked into regular […]
Category: Articles
Game recap August 3: Skip this one in the 2016 highlight reel
What Happened, In Two Sentences The Mets could have pounced early and turned this game in to a laugher. By the end, Mark Teixiera was laughing at them as the Yankees won 9-5. Mets Make Three Quick Runs Feel Bad If you missed the start to last night’s game, you might think the Mets excelled […]
No No-Hitters (Or How The Mets are Statistical Unicorns)
Two Sundays ago my grandma took my dad to the Mets game in Philadelphia. It had been his birthday present, booked months in advance, and by the time the day arrived even I was looking forward to them going (the hype was out of control). I was a little worried the outcome would be depressing, […]
How The Mets Have Shifted
Shifting is a sensation that has taken over Major League Baseball the past few years and its implementation has been well documented in recent books such as Travis Sawchik’s “Big Data Baseball” and Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller’s “The Only Rule Is It Has to Work.” As the popularity of the use of the shift […]
Game Recap August 2: de, De, d’ and Debuts
Executive Summary deGrom dealt. De Aza, d’Arnaud dingered. Mets 7, Yankees 1. Discussion and Analysis New and controversial acquisition Jay Bruce debuted in right field, batting third. He popped out to left field, grounded to first and struck out looking twice. Of course, Bruce was not acquired for his bat, but instead to inspire the Mets to […]
The Slide Comes For Us All
There are a couple of ways to look at the trade with Cincinnati yesterday that brought Jay Bruce to the Mets. One is that the move was made to make back page headlines. Sure, it’s neat that Bruce leads the league in RBIs, but he’s done so while hitting after a guy posting a 144 […]
How a Flyer on a Washout Turned Into Jay Bruce
Sometimes, the seemingly small moves can make all the difference. The ripple effects echo for years down the road, like the Mets’ decision to draft Jon Matlack in 1967 eventually leading to David Wright. Although there were mixed opinions about the Mets trading for Jay Bruce yesterday, it is fascinating to consider that it was […]
Game recap August 1: There was a game. It wasn’t pretty
In a sentence A lot of important Mets things happened on Monday, the least of which was a 6-5 extra-innings loss to the Yankees in Game 1 of the Subway Series. The good Matt Reynolds hit a three-run home run and Wilmer Flores continued to destroy lefties with a solo shot off C.C. Sabathia. Curtis Granderson also […]
The Mets’ Offense and the Burden of Context
Often, when watching a lot of games by the same baseball team, we might say things like “boy it sure feels like Bobby Ballplayer strikes out a lot on high fastballs,” or “golly it seems like Javier Hitter grounds into a double play every time there’s a runner on first.” Often, we seek to prove […]
Our Favorite Mets Trades
Sandy Alderson’s been working the phones; SOURCES say the Mets have been in on Jonathan Lucroy and Jay Bruce. But the Mets should instead retool for next season. The 2017 Mets are closer to the National League East title than this year’s team. Barring a shocking Nationals collapse, 7 1/2 games is an insurmountable deficit with […]